Phil Rapp is the NCHA ((National Cutting Horse Assoc.) all-time leading rider with earnings in excess of 9 million dollars. Among his most recent successes was breaking the record for lifetime earnings for a mare. The mare, Don’t Look Twice 2011 NCHA Horse of the Year, is owned by Waco Bend Ranch and currently has earnings of $824,546 and continues to be shown. Don’t Look Twice, like many of the successful horses from their program, is the result of Rapp Ranch’s many years of crossing the very best genetics with outstanding individuals, which is why they are one of the top breeders in the industry.

Mary Ann Rapp enjoys equal status for the non-professional division, being the leading rider in that division for lifetime earnings of 4.6 million dollars. Mary Ann has won every NCHA aged event, and some, such as the Futurity, twice with the exception of the Derby. Having grown up in the cattle industry, she is a real asset to Rapp Ranch in not only the care of horses, but keeps a keen eye on the working cattle and a small, personal herd she has started.

The Rapps have two children, Ryon and Emma Grace, who both love to ride and have begun their own successful cutting careers. In 2015 Ryan won the AQHA Youth Cutting Championship an honor his father had won 25 years before.

“Since beginning this feeding program in 1994, our horses have won over thirteen million dollars.”

“The Forage First® program is a natural way of feeding horses. I feed good-quality hay and supplement with HEALTHY GLO™ and GROSTRONG® QuadBLOCK® Minerals. In two weeks, my horses are calmer to ride, and their tendency to overheat is greatly reduced. Since I started feeding this program, I have had virtually no colics.”

Mike Flarida has won the prestigious NRHA futurity two times. He was crowned champion of the first Olympic trials in reining competition at the 1999 USET Festival of Champions in Gladstone, Virginia. After winning the NRHA Futurity with million dollar sire Wizard Jac, he then campaigned Wizard Jac to be the leading NRHA money-earning horse from 1996-2000. Inducted into the NRHA Rider’s Hall of Fame in 2009, he has lifetime NRHA earnings over $600,000. Mike Flarida is best known as a trainer’s trainer, having employed and mentored NRHA $3 million rider/trainer Craig Schmersal, NRHA $5 million rider/trainer Shawn Flarida and numerous others.

Horses are the heart of the Smith family ranch. The Smiths do almost everything from horseback. Mark Smith, the boy’s father, has been breaking and training horses since high school, when he also got his first infectious taste of roping, even winning several saddles of his own. It would only be natural that his sons would take to roping. According to Clay, “Roping has taught us a strong work ethic, the ability to absolutely focus and responsibility, not only for keeping ourselves fit and healthy, but especially the horses which are an integral part of our lives.”

The boys started roping at two years of age, roping dummies (practice apparatus) of all sizes and types around the ranch. They have been roping from horses since age four. Aside from devoting lots of time to practice, part of the boys’ success at roping is attributed to their exceptional riding skills developed at an early age.

Smith Brother’s early success was with competitive Dummy Roping where they competed at all levels, the most prestigious being the World Championships at the National Finals Rodeo. In 1998, after Jake placed high and Clay won the World Championship Dummy Roping at the National Finals Rodeo, they were invited to appear on The Tonight Show with host Jay Leno. Their appearance with Jay Leno did a lot to promote the sport of roping.

No longer boys and now young men, they have continued to thrive in the toughest of competition. After winning a prestigious roping, the Wildfire Natl. Championship, with a payout of $100,000, Jake and Clay took separate paths with Clay hitting the road with a different partner, qualifying for the NFR in Las Vegas his first year out. There were many other highlights for Clay such as almost winning the Timed Event Championship in 2014, but ending up Reserve Champion after some tough luck. Jake elected to stay closer to home but continues to be very competitive. Little brother Britt is coming on in his own right, winning a truck this past year that he is not old enough to drive, a tradition in the Smith family! The Smiths have done a great job of representing the ADM Forage First® program for these many years and we look forward to many more to come.

Roanie is an unregistered Quarter Horse that belongs to Cody Kroul, and together they travel the PRCA rodeo circuit. Cody competes on Roanie, and also allows other competitors use Roanie for a fee. With the standard mount fee of 25% and Roanie having good years, such as 2014 where other contestants won over $200,000 on him, it can be quite lucrative!

Cody rodeoed in high school and college then took a break from the sport and was working on a ranch in Idaho where he took in several young horses to start under saddle for a client. At the end of one season the client settled up with him and made Roanie a portion of settling the bill. He was a good ranch horse, but little did Cody realize what a phenomenal steer wrestling horse he would work into. Like most people involved in rodeo, the bug bit Cody again, and he started hauling to a few rodeos which is when Roanie’s abilities started to appear. And as they say, the rest is history.

Roanie has been the primary horse for successful PRCA steer wrestler Nick Guy from Wisconsin who has qualified for the NFR the past two years. With many rodeos going on around the country simultaneously, good horses are always in demand, so Roanie has been used at different times by most of the sport’s top contenders. Cody was raised with a strong influence for premium nutrition, since his father (Tom Kroul) has worked for ADM for over twenty five years, so representing ADM Animal Nutrition™ is a natural for Cody and Roanie.

Joe Wolter

Aspermont, TX

Joe Wolter, respected and well-known trainer, clinician and horseman, credits legendary training icons Ray Hunt and brothers Bill and Tom Dorrance with coaching him early on and instilling valuable lessons he still incorporates into his horse training techniques. ADM Animal Nutrition’s Forage First® feeding program was something Joe had seen on other ranches and liked the results, but wanted to set up a trial of his own and study the results. During the winter of 2012, he turned horses out on pasture and only supplemented with the GROSTRONG® PRO-VITA-MIN™ Tub and GROSTRONG Mineral Blocks. Joe indicated that while they were in a record drought, the pastured horses looked better in the spring than any of the horses on the place.

“I can’t believe what a difference just the GROSTRONG vitamin/mineral makes in the hair coat and overall healthy look of my Horses.” - Joe Wolter

Joe has established a reputation for developing horses that are soft and responsive partners which are very capable and willing to do a job. Wolter won the inaugural AQHA Ranch Horse Versatility competition held in 2002 at the Ft. Worth Stock Show, and won again in 2003 and 2007. Joe continues to be very competitive in ranch horse versatility events as well as nationally recognized cutting and reined cow horse venues. Joe conducts numerous horsemanship clinics for working horses, colt starting, cattle handling and ranch roping clinics.

Joe judged the 2013 Road to the Horse, a very popular invitational colt starting competition, and the Will James Days ranch horse show. In addition to cutting, reined cow horse, ranch horse versatility, and ranch roping events, Joe holds clinics at his facilities in Aspermont, Texas, and Ballantine, Montana, as well as throughout the U.S. Along with his wife, Jimmie, Joe operates horse training and cattle conditioning facilities in Texas and Montana.

The name “Lynn McKenzie” has been prominent in barrel racing since September of 1977 when she and her great horse Magnolia Missile swept the Texas Barrel Racing Association Futurity, winning every go round. In 1978, in her rookie season in the WPRA, she won the title of World Champion Barrel Racer. In 1979 and 1980, she was the Reserve World Champion Barrel Racer, winning the average at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) both years. Winning the 1979 NFR, she placed in EVERY go round, WINNING an unprecedented 6 of 10 rounds. She again won the World Champion title in 1981.

In 1983 Lynn quit competing in order to be home with her two daughters. She was able to maintain contact with barrel racing by training horses and conducting clinics. Both of her daughters grew up barrel racing and both won the AQHA World Championship in Senior Barrels. Ironically both of them won it at the age of 13. She currently conducts state of the art barrel racing clinics using a unique timing system that breaks down the patterns into seven segments.

Lynn and Murray were quick to see the advantages of Forage First® for the sport of barrel racing. They started feeding the program in 2004 and have recommended it ever since. They attended the Equine Nutrition in the 21st Century Seminar for veterinarians at Texas A&M University in January 2006 in order to be better spokespersons for the concept.

Lynn has written articles that have appeared in nearly every horse publication that appeals to barrel racing including Barrel Racer News, Barrel Horse News, Turn Magazine, Horse & Rider, Horse Illustrated and Quarter Horse News. She and Murray also publish a bimonthly DVD Magazine called The Practice Pen. Owning their own video production company gives the McKenzies a heads up advantage and allows them to provide invaluable information to their subscribers at a very affordable cost. All those years of filming barrel races and clinics has given Murray the equipment and technical ability to undertake and produce this project. Combined with Lynn's unsurpassed ability to develop, design and teach barrel racing techniques and products makes this project sure to be a success. Information about Forage First feeding programs will now be added to the training and equipment information already offered on The Practice Pen.

Growing up in North Texas, being a cowboy has always been second nature to Hunter Cure. He was surrounded with large cattle operations and multiple family interests which included a breeding operation, halter, performance and cutting horses. At age 14, Hunter began steer wrestling with success in the high school ranks which led to a college rodeo scholarship and winning the collegiate national steer wrestling title in 2004. He began his Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) rookie year in 2006 and in May of that year graduated from Texas Tech with a degree in Agricultural Economics. In October, he married Bristi and moved back to the Wichita Falls, Texas, area that has always been home to him.

Along with rodeo, Hunter runs wheat pasture cattle seasonally, helps with the family’s cow/calf operation and started a stock contracting business providing steer wrestling cattle to some of the largest winter stock shows including Austin, San Antonio, Ft. Worth and others. Hunter spends countless hours in the practice pen to keep his competitive edge. He also trains horses for this event and has quickly established a reputation for developing well-trained steer wrestling horses.

Hunter qualified for his first National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in 2009, and in the same year won four out of the six rounds at his first Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) and has since qualified for the CFR numerous times. 2013 proved to be an outstanding season as Hunter finished the CFR finals as reserve champion, ending the 2013 season winning the PRCA World Championship title. A back injury kept Hunter out of the arena for most of 2014, but he came back with a vengeance winning the 2015 NFR and a second PRCA World Championship.

Since Hunter’s family has used MoorMan’s®/ADM Animal Nutrition™ products, he has been familiar with them his entire life. Hunter has always associated quality with the MoorMan’s and ADM name and is proud to represent Forage First® as an ambassador, as he is well aware of the connection between extremely healthy horses and the very best nutrition program. In 2016, Hunter and a group comprised of the PRCA’s very top competitors struck out on their own, creating a new association named Elite Rodeo Athletes (ERA). The goal of this group is to create a venue that requires less road time combined with a smaller number of rodeos and a much larger payout. This group has invested in themselves and want to guarantee their fans and spectators will see and possibly meet the very top competitors, giving the fans a quality experience. The constant travel is an expensive grind and now that Hunter has two small children, family has become more and more important. We support him in this new venture and wish ERA continued success.

In remembrance of Ray Hunt, long-time Forage First® Ambassador. “I work to get the horse mentally right so it can be physically right. As for conditioning, the horse has to be right inside and out. For these reasons, I swear by HEALTHY GLO™ and GROSTRONG® Minerals.” Ray Hunt was a world-renowned clinician and author who taught a philosophy of natural horsemanship that applied to all riding disciplines. For over 30 years, Ray conducted educational clinics throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. He started more than 10,000 colts to begin relationships with their riders. Undoubtedly, Ray Hunt was a master horseman.

Bill Freeman

In remembrance of Bill Freeman, long-time Forage First® Ambassador. “People know that I like a horse to move strong with purpose and authority. This program gives my horses that strength, but at the same time they are focused, not silly or fresh.” Bill Freeman of Rosston, Texas, was the NCHA Futurity leading all-time money earner and an NCHA Hall of Fame member. He was a world-class cutting horse trainer and had won the NCHA Futurity three times. Bill achieved lifetime earnings of more than $4 million.